CBI to study judgment, then decide course of action

Reacting to the rejection of its clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said it would study the verdict before deciding the course of action. HT reports.

Reacting to the rejection of its clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said it would study the verdict before deciding the course of action.

Agency spokesperson Dharini Mishra said, "We will study the court's judgment, and then decide the course of action."

Earlier, senior advocate HS Phoolka, who had appeared for petitioner Lakhwinder Kaur, had said, "The court said the CBI should have recorded the statement of two key witnesses, which it hadn't."

A CBI source clarified that a US-based witness had refused to come to India, citing threats to life. So a CBI team had visited him in the US, but found his testimony lacking in evidentiary value. The testimony of two other witnesses was also found unreliable, he added.

Asked about the future course of action by the agency, the source said it would depend on the directive issued by the court and that CBI was ready to probe again if the orders are for the examination of only two-three witnesses.

The CBI team had submitted to the court written details of video footages, which established Tytler's absence from the scene of rioting at Pul Bangash on November 1, 1984, said the source. The footage showed that Tytler was at Teen Murti Bhavan that day where the body of Indira Gandhi was kept.